Various types of high-bandwidth content (i.e., rich content) are now being offered to service subscribers over Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) connections. Subscribers accessing high-bandwidth content via DSL connections are generally referred to herein as broadband users. Streamed videos, multicast videos, real-time communication, videoconferencing and network-based gaming applications are examples of such high-bandwidth content offered to broadband users.
As new types of high-bandwidth content are offered and the number of broadband users continues to grow, networks carrying traffic corresponding to such high-bandwidth content will need to be enhanced to address dramatic increases in both bandwidth usage and traffic. These increases in bandwidth usage and traffic will adversely affect performance in conventional network implementations. Saturation of a service provider's relatively high-bandwidth connections to the Internet, which are expensive to maintain and operate, is one example of such adverse affect associated with conventional network implementations.
Even though DSL connections can typically be provisioned at data rates that are dozens of times faster than current dial up lines, actual DSL connections of many broadband user's often do not approach these provisioned data rates. In many instances, a “bottleneck” effect occurs in the network of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or the ISP's Point of Presence (POP) to the Internet. This bottleneck effect governs actual data rates.
A limitation of convention network implementations with respect to offering high-bandwidth content is the location from where high-bandwidth content is served via conventional network implementations. Conventional network implementations typically serve high-bandwidth content from centralized locations, such as an ISP's network, the ISP's POP to the Internet and/or from a content providers server. In some instances, servers adapted for providing caching functionality (i.e., caching servers) have been implemented in the ISP's network to enhance access to high-bandwidth content. However, ISP and content providers can be relatively far from the edge of a broadband user's DSL access network, which adversely affects delivering high-bandwidth content in an effective and efficient manner.
Another limitation of convention network implementations with respect to offering high-bandwidth content is that DSLAM's are only aware of layer 2 and layer 3 of an Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model (i.e., data link layer and network layer, respectively). Accordingly, DSLAM's in conventional network implementations (i.e., conventional DSLAM's) can only make decisions based on these two layers. Making decisions based on only these two layers limits the degree to which traffic traversing the DSLAM can be analysed and organized, thus adversely impacting the ability of delivering high-bandwidth content in an effective and efficient manner.
Conventional flow control mechanisms that enhance the manner in which traffic traversing the DSLAM can be analysed and organized do exist. However, such conventional flow control mechanisms are located relatively far from the edge of a broadband user's DSL access network (e.g., at the ISP's POP or in the ISP's network), thus adversely affecting delivery of high-bandwidth content. Some of these conventional flow control mechanisms have evolved primarily from enterprise requirements and can address analysing and organizing traffic traversing the DSLAM at one or more layers in the OSI model, but are typically unable to deliver performance and full-featured functionality required to support a large carrier network.
Therefore, methods and equipment adapted for facilitating traffic management functionality at a DSLAM in a matter that overcomes limitations associated with delivering high-bandwidth content via conventional network implementations would be useful.